A singer and songwriter who has found an audience for his cool but openly emotional music,
Roy English was born
Brandon Roy Wronski in Los Angeles, California on May 22, 1988.
Wronski first got his foot in the door of the music business in the mid-2000s as a member of the band Dead Letter Diaries. In 2006,
Wronski and his DLD bandmate
Cameron Trowbridge quit the group to form a new band,
Eye Alaska.
Wronski was the leader of the new group, singing lead, playing several instruments, writing the songs, and co-producing their recording sessions. After signing to Fearless Records,
Eye Alaska released an EP (2008's
Yellow & Elephant) and an album (2009's
Genesis Underground), but
Wronski was dissatisfied with the band, and in 2011 they broke up.
Wronski announced his intention to form a new act, but by 2012 he'd soured on music, and planned to relocate to Boise, Idaho and get a day job before he met
Jeff Bhasker, a producer who saw plenty of untapped talent in
Wronski. Taking the new name
Roy English,
Wronski landed a record deal with Lava/Republic in 2013 through
Bhasker's help. The deal proved only so fruitful, as Lava/Republic dropped
English in a year without releasing any material, but after landing a publishing contract with Sony/ATV Music,
English was brought in to help produce a session for
Lana Del Rey's 2014 single "I Can Fly." In 2015
Roy English released his first single under that moniker, "Julianne," and the same year he sang on
DJ Alesso's single "Cool," which became an international hit, rising to the Top Ten of dance charts in the U.K. and the U.S.A. "Tongue Tied July," a track with
Michael Brun featuring lead vocals from
English, was also released in 2015, and accumulated nearly five million plays on streaming music services. The following year
English released an EP, I'm Not Here, Pt. 1, and toured as the opening act for indie emo band
5 Seconds of Summer. In 2017
English dropped another new single, "Hotel Pools 01101001." ~ Mark Deming